summer break part II

NOTE* being sort of lazy and taking sooo long to finally post these pics I posted I later realized that when it comes to chronology these are backwards; so the if that bothers you and you wish to know the order of it all start from the bottom and work up for this post as well as the other (summer break parts I and II) :)

this was our view... aaahhh relaxing!


we rounded out the week with a relaxing picnic under the Korean pines Sunday evening. There was hardly anyone to be found in this normally bustling picnic spot, understandably so as it was 90 degrees and ridiculously humid. The walk there was horrible but so worth it. I laid out on our straw mat and read while Ben went off exploring for a while.


My new fav frozen treat: vanilla milkshake in a pouch


Haven't seen a bus this dec'd out in side here yet. It reminded me of something you'd see in an India how they decorate everything, but mostly I just thought it was terribly ugly and funny. This was on our way home of Tour-de-Corea day 2.


View out from the Danyang bus terminal.


Connected to the Danyang bus terminal is this mini-museum in honor of the 2002 Korea Japan World Cup they hosted jointly. It had never been open when I'd been there so we were pleasantly surprised to be able to take a quick look as we waited for the bus to arrive.







Korean style camping in/on/next to the dammed up stream we swam in. This is precisely how many people die every year here because the summer is the rainy season and a few days of heavy rain and that becomes a river with a nasty current.


chili pepper rock!


a very very very old tree, Mr. Lee made sure I got a pic of it


a people only suspension bridge across the stream.


our swimming hole, it was refreshing and sooo beautiful


the sheer rock just above us was amazing, kids were climbing up parts of it and jumping off, it isn't very deep in some spots so it was actually quite dangerous for them to be jumping off a 10 ft high cliff


looking down the main street in the village


Mr. Lee's mother-in-law lives in a house directly across the street, it was sooo handy to have a place to change and a bathroom so close to the swimming hole


it was fairly busy the day we went but we didn't care because we were so hot and desperate to cool off


people brought their little grills and were cooking/eating 5 ft from the stream, they bring their sam-gap-sal (pork) and grill it along with kimchee and watermelon and... they don't picnic lightly.









It isn't proper to just wear a swim suit when swimming in a river/stream (sooo glad I noted that the previous day) so I wore my swim suit underneath a t-shirt and shorts. When I was changing Mr. Lee asked Ben in a panic if I was wearing a swim suit and informed him that this is not the beach, swim suits are for the beach only, got it.




a really cool old gong in an old Korean village Mr. Lee took us to @ Chungpung Lake




Mr. Lee explained that this was for weddings a long time ago. They would carry the bride in this "box" and she was not allowed to get out even to pee so there is a hole in the bottom of it with a bowl attached... enough said.






old school kitchen








Mr. Lee showed us around a good portion of the old Korean village. They use a portion of the village for film and TV production. On the other side of the lake are a few hotels and the most popular place to go bungee jumping. We hiked all the way to the top of the mount as pictured. The view was spectacular, promptly just before we reached the top my camera battery decided it was done for the day so I have no pics. We hope to go back again sometime as it was a beautiful place with so much more to check out.


another classic Ben pic, he fit right in with all the funny faces.


I loved these guys they all had different faces hand carved into the wood. I took a serious of pics of them up-close to capture their character.

summer break part I

NOTE* being sort of lazy and taking sooo long to finally post these pics I posted I later realized that when it comes to chronology these are backwards; so the if that bothers you and you wish to know the order of it all start from the bottom and work up for this post as well as the other (summer break parts I and II) :)

no idea where this was we drove for ever and ever and stopped every now and than so I could take pics




Ben and Mr. Lee... oh my boys will be boys.


how does that go; in a van down by the river.... korean camping, they just set up anywhere and its so odd






cheeese!




we went up there to get a view of the bridge and the surrounding, it was quiet beautiful


there's Ben way below on the bridge


we were here in the winter and it was so pretty to see it all green in the summer without all the snow and ice


Ben and Mr. Lee taking it all in




Big beautiful sunflowers - Ben was the photog





Photog Mr. Lee- us and the rocks


me and the rock - thanks Mr. Lee





Korean tourist/photo op Mr. Lee took us too on our 2-day Tour-de-Corea




Proof that we were driving through the middle of no where, his car GPS couldn't find us on the dirt back roads.


wild bee hive


typical mountain farmstead


Mr. Lee took us to his fields because we were curious to see them.


Some pepper plants, the peppers hadn't yet turned red (as of the past 2 weeks they are all turning and its just so neat to see fields of green turn to have bright red peppers hanging from them)


Korean sweet potato plants = coguma




His fields are tucked in a pretty little valley between the mountains. It was so incredibly picturesque. He works at his fields every weekend and some week days aside from his full time job of running the school. Its very typically Korean to do so. It's just plain hard work and most people have a field somewhere and the crops last them through the winter


Another Korean standard: man-made waterfall in Danyang


Menu at the wild boar restaurant. This was a special lunch Mr. Lee treated us too.


Its mildly disturbing how they always have a picture of the animal you're about to eat hanging up. It makes me feel funny to take a bite and look up and see this;


The restaurant sign. It was just across from the river, we sat on the floor in front of a huge window that looked out over the huge river and the gorgeous mountains.




Some of the many side dishes, they were several I'd never had before including 2 types of wild mushrooms, homemade pickles, pickled ferns, and


more sides... mushrooms, dried spicy shrimp, kimchee, pickles, sesame leaf in the basket. All of the sides are made on site.


Korean BBQ'd Wild Boar = DELICIOUS!!!


Say Kimchee, yes, thats spicy red hot kimchee going in my mouth. It's actually really great with meat.


Following the boar and many side dishes, Mr. Lee ordered this cold buckwheat noodle soup. The broth is tasty but is like a slushee than melts as you eat it. I was mildly terrified to try it as cold slimy noodles in savory broth just don't sound like my cuppa tea but I was pleasantly surprised.


Ben actually enjoyed the meal although his face says otherwise in this pic, he was super full and ready for a nap when I took this.